Chapter 26: A man who knows how to imagine the future

“An… absurd story?”

“It does not matter whether you believe what I am going to say from now on or not. Just listen.”

“U-understood.”

Stephan adopted a listening posture, just as he had been asked.

Although he was so dizzy he felt like he might die, it was still not completely impossible to listen.

Perda began to speak.

“This is the future I am imagining.”

Perda did not emphasize it as if he were presenting something grand.

He simply focused on recounting exactly the things he had seen, heard, and felt.

While listening to the story, Stephan gathered key words one by one.

‘Carriages that move without horses. Tools that work with magical power but do not need magicians…’

Stephan was a man who had grown up being called a genius and possessed an excellent commercial instinct.

The instinct of a merchant is something simple.

Take the profits and discard the losses.

So what was it that Perda was saying?

‘An absurd dream.’

For Stephan’s common sense, it was an impossible story.

A story that should be discarded.

‘And yet… it sounds convincing.’

It was not a sweet whisper meant to set a trap.

There were no exaggerations typical of a swindler nor traps hiding information.

It was as if a grandfather were telling a story to some children.

As if he were simply calmly recounting something he had seen and experienced.

Because of that, even that absurd story began to draw clear images in Stephan’s mind.

He did not even know what to call that feeling, but a conviction arose inside him.

‘This will definitely make money!’

Stephan’s mind began working normally again, but his hands were still trembling.

“That is all. That is as far as the future I am imagining goes.”

Stephan opened the mouth he had kept closed while listening attentively.

“That future… does it have anything to do with what you are researching, Lord Regent?”

He asked with his heart beating strongly.

It was so shocking that he even forgot to stutter.

“Of course.”

“T-then! Could you tell me exactly what it is? I beg you!”

Stephan could not contain his excitement and pleaded with Perda.

“Magitechnology.”

“Magi-tech… nology.”

It was a name that seemed vaguely familiar.

But if Stephan did not remember it, it was undoubtedly because at the time it had not seemed profitable to him.

‘If I thought it was useless then, it should still be the same…’

However, it was the first time he felt he was about to lose such an attractive product.

He could not let it escape.

“If your research needs monster corpses, what would you think if we cooperated?”

“You mean you will help us?”

“Yes. We will provide them.”

Perda leaned back against the chair and asked.

“What do you want?”

“We want to participate in the production and distribution of those magitechnology products.”

Stephan clearly revealed his desire.

Perda asked in a more serious tone.

“Only in the production and distribution?”

“Of course… we also want exclusivity.”

Stephan answered clearly.

An exclusivity contract.

If something could be possessed alone, it always became a great weapon.

“I know it is a great ambition. That is why everything can be adjusted according to your will, Lord Regent. I only wish that we can monopolize the products derived from that research.”

Stephan made very clear his intention to have exclusivity.

Perda showed an expression of little interest.

“What we are researching will change the world. If you want to monopolize something like that, besides helping with the research you will have to prove your sincerity.”

“What would I have to do?”

Perda used that moment to make his proposal.

“I want to secure priority supply of materials for road development, the growth of the Duchy, and also food reserves.”

Perda’s demands came out naturally.

Stephan was surprised.

“You are asking for quite a lot…”

“Is there any problem with the ruler of a territory wanting to work for its development?”

“No, none at all. Haha…”

Although he smiled outwardly, Stephan could not help thinking seriously.

‘Giving those three things is not impossible.’

The money and resources Stephan had accumulated far exceeded those of his two siblings.

Road construction was something that would have to be done anyway if they were going to cooperate.

He also had enough resources and stored food to deliver them.

Even so, there was something that made him hesitate.

‘Priority…’

Stephan knew perfectly well how terrifying that word was.

It meant that even if someone else offered to pay more money, he would have to ignore it and fulfill that supply first.

Stephan’s commercial instinct screamed at him to avoid that kind of commitment.

“Your expression does not look very good.”

“Eh? Eh?”

“It seems you do not like the idea of supplying with priority very much.”

“No, not at all. How could that be?”

Even if it were true, the correct thing was to deny it.

That was the basis of everything.

“Think about it. There is nothing more unfair than dying after accumulating a fortune.”

Stephan shuddered.

“A-are you… threatening me?”

“No. It is not a threat. I am talking about your future. Herman Pascal is already quite old, is he not?”

“Ah…”

Stephan understood what Perda meant.

He remembered something he had been avoiding thinking about.

‘That hateful brother and that sister…’

Merchit and Tilda.

Were they not pressuring him relentlessly?

“Is it not an attractive proposal to become the owner of the trading company, even if you must assume some losses?”

“The… owner of the company…”

The Pascal Trading Company was everything to Stephan.

It did not only mean wealth, but even his own life.

“To the extent that you cooperate with me, I will also cooperate with you. I will make what Herman Pascal built, and the trading company that you have grown, become completely yours.”

Stephan took out a scale in his mind.

What Perda demanded and what he had shown, against what he himself had to offer.

Of course, it was an overwhelmingly unfavorable deal for Stephan.

‘The Grand Duke… no, the regent… could become someone who supports my position.’

Perda Valdrova.

At first he had not considered him much in terms of connections.

A man who knows how to imagine the future

If someone bragged about having the consort of Valdrova as a contact, the only thing they would receive would be ridicule, and people would think they were so desperate that they were even clinging to a rotten rope.

Most people underestimated him.

And Stephan had believed that as well.

‘But that is not the case.’

Now that he saw him in person, it was different.

He was a man who possessed a brilliance comparable to that of the emperor.

Even standing before him at that moment and feeling surprised, Stephan could not stop wondering whether he was still underestimating him.

‘This man knows how to imagine the future.’

They were not childish drawings like those made by boastful nobles.

Even if he drew rough lines, the shape he outlined was clear.

He had conviction.

And he also had the ability to sustain it.

‘Something I could never have.’

The absolute charisma Stephan had never possessed.

That was why he wanted to say it.

He wanted to say it no matter what.

Those words began to rise in his throat.

“May I ask a question?”

But he did not say them.

Because answering one beat later is the fastest path to becoming a great merchant.

“Go ahead.”

“I have an older brother and a sister. Why did you not choose one of them?”

Perda answered frankly.

“I will be honest. Because I would gain nothing by attaching myself to them.”

A cold and calculated judgment.

“And you are alone and isolated. That is why you are perfect to be used.”

“Ugh…”

Perda was too direct.

Stephan, who had expected to test him with that question, ended up confused instead.

“That is why I am making this proposal to you. Decide whether you want to survive by accepting losses, or if you prefer to fall behind.”

Stephan realized how short-sighted his thinking had been.

He had tried to test someone like that.

“I will do it.”

And he added something he had forgotten to say.

“I will do it no matter what.”

Stephan knelt and bowed before him.

Perda leaned forward and extended his hand.

“Then I will count on you from now on.”

“I am the one who will be indebted to you, Lord Regent.”

Stephan thought that no matter who or what proposal might be made to him in the future, nothing would ever make him feel an emotion as intense as the deal he had just concluded that day.

***

Territory of Count Consillus.

Today a soldier died who was someone’s father and someone’s husband.

He had died heroically buying time to protect the peasants from the monsters that had attacked the fields.

The priests sprinkled the body with holy water while performing the ritual.

The soldiers raised their swords and honored his death.

Even Count Consillus attended the funeral of that simple soldier.

The old lord, already too aged to wield a sword, never missed the funerals of his soldiers and always honored the fallen.

It was habitual behavior.

But today was different.

Even after the entire funeral had ended, Ulvera Consilus did not move from the place and remained watching the grave.

“Arwen…”

He called the knight who stood behind him.

“Yes, my lord.”

“What did the Empire say? What happened with the letter we sent requesting supplies?”

Arwen responded with an uncomfortable voice.

“They say it will take time. That they must first supply the soldiers inside the Empire…”

“First…?”

Ulvera Consilus stroked his beard.

The life of Ulvera Consilus had been like walking on a tightrope.

Because of that he rarely showed his emotions.

In a world where today’s emotion could become tomorrow’s death, he had always learned to smile kindly.

If something could not be achieved today, it would be attempted tomorrow.

And if not tomorrow, then the day after.

“Those damned sons of bitches…”

Even Count Consilus could no longer keep smiling.

“First supply the soldiers of the Empire? Are we not also subjects of the Empire? We live every day fighting monsters on the front line! And the emperor is arming guards simply because he worries about the safety of the cities?”

“Calm yourself, my lord.”

“How pitiful. I may never have lived with pride, but at least I believed I had not lived with shame. And yet today I feel a shame like never before!”

When he heard the cause of the soldier’s death, Count Consilus’s heart seemed to collapse.

The sword the soldier had used to fight the monsters had broken just as he delivered the final blow.

It was a military supply weapon.

And even so he had used it for five years.

It would not have been strange for it to break at any moment.

Count Consilus knew very well how important defense was.

At least to protect his territory, he had never neglected the training of his soldiers and had always tried to set an example to strengthen their morale.

But not even the best morale can defeat the lack of supplies.

Inside the Empire there was peace.

But on the frontier the situation was practically a constant war.

Casualties caused by monsters were something that occurred continuously.

“Forgive me…”

Count Consilus grabbed the soldier’s grave and fell to his knees.

“Forgive this useless old man… It was my fault.”

“My lord is not useless! All of this is our incompetence!”

“It is my fault!”

“It is my fault!”

Arwen fell to his knees, and the soldiers under his command also knelt.

Count Consilus wept bitterly for a long time.

After crying for a long time, Arwen helped him stand up.

Count Consilus began walking again.

He was returning to his residence.

Then he heard a great commotion outside the castle gate.

It was so loud it seemed to pass through the tall and thick walls.

Instead of continuing toward his residence, Count Consilus asked the guard watching the main gate.

“What is happening?”

“My lord! We were just looking for you.”

“For me?”

“Yes. Outside there is a long line of carriages advancing through the forest. They appear to be merchants, but they seem suspicious, so we have not allowed them to enter.”

“Suspicious merchants?”

“They say they come from the Pascal Trading Company.”

It was understandable that it seemed suspicious.

A company like Pascal had no reason to come to this region of the far east.

They probably thought they were bandits or criminals in disguise.

“I see. I will go see it myself.”

Count Consilus’s eyes became sharp.

If they were bandits, he was determined to draw his sword right there and bathe it in blood.

Count Consilus opened a side gate and went out.

In front of the main gate stood a relatively well-dressed middle-aged man on horseback.

“I have come to see Count Consillus. The carriages are waiting in the forest and the situation is dangerous. Could you open the gate?”

“The man before you is Ulvera Consillus, count of this place. Show proper respect.”

At Arwen’s warning, the middle-aged man was startled, jumped from the horse, and knelt.

“Ah, I’m sorry! My sight failed me. Count, forgive my disrespect.”

“It does not matter. Who are you? Bringing so many carriages to a place like this would normally frighten anyone.”

“Forgive the delay in introducing myself. We come from the Pascal Trading Company.”

“I already heard that. Do you have any way to prove it?”

“Here.”

The man took out an identification document.

The emblem of the Empire and the seal.

He was undoubtedly someone sent by the Pascal Trading Company.

“Why have you come all the way here?”

“We have come to consult about establishing a branch in the territory of Count Consilus.”

“If the Pascal Trading Company establishes a branch… does that mean you have interest in the trade of this far east?”

Consilus was even more surprised.

Establishing a branch meant they planned to activate commerce throughout the surrounding region.

But a great trading company had no reason to activate commerce in the far east.

For them it was more reasonable to expand their business safely from the central region rather than assume the risks of this frontier.

“We received orders from above. We must support with priority the supply of resources and the improvement of roads, in addition to establishing a branch in the far east. For that project, the territory of Count Consilus was chosen as the place with the best location. If Count Consilus allows us to install the branch, we have come fully prepared to begin immediately.”

Count Consilus looked in astonishment at the endless line of carriages that had crossed the forest.

“Then… you came with the intention of practically building a castle?”

“Haha, not exactly. We also bring construction materials, but we heard that recently you have not been receiving supplies. So instead of the Empire, our company has selected the best products from our inventory to bring you supplies.”

“Supplies?!”

Count Consilus quickly walked toward the cargo in the carriages.

“Hah!”

His wrinkled eyes opened wide.

In those carriages were things more valuable than mountains of gold.

‘Everything I requested and was ignored… is here!’

From weapons to maintenance consumables, and even food that could be stored as reserves.

From the most trivial to the absolutely essential, everything was inside those carriages.

Count Consilus took a supply sword.

It was undoubtedly of the highest quality.

A weapon strong enough not to break in the middle of a battle against monsters.

“Why would Pascal… invest in a business in a place like this far east?”

Count Consilus was too curious.

He felt he could not remain calm if he did not obtain an answer.

Then the man replied.

“It is a project being carried out after reaching an agreement with the representative of Grand Duchess Valdrova.”